One of the most popular secondary questions asked by medical schools is “why our program?” Saying why you’re attracted to a particular school can be a hard thing to explain, especially when you’ve looked at so many programs that they’ve all begun to blur. I think that’s why I so often see the same answer:…
First Drafts of Personal Statements: Let Yourself Go
Writing the first draft of your personal statement is probably the hardest part of the whole application process. And it makes sense – it’s not easy to capture so much of your experience onto a single page. Transforming your first draft from just OK to simply spectacular I’ve read hundreds of first drafts over the…
8 To-Dos for Canadians Applying to U.S. Med Schools
Each year, Canadian medical school hopefuls look across the border for their medical education. While there are obvious challenges (adapting to a different health care system, returning to a Canadian residency, and much higher education costs), the higher acceptance rates at U.S. programs (about 41.9% overall, as compared to just 20% in Canada) can make…
The Medical School Application “Deadline”
In just a few days, many of you will want to submit your medical school application. You’ve probably heard that you need to submit on the first day possible – May 28, 2020 – if you want your best shot. But just how true is that? Medical school admissions myth vs. reality It is true…
Get a Head Start on Your Med School Secondaries
Right now, most premeds are counting down the days until May 28th, when the 2021 AMCAS application will open. After you put the final touches on your application and click “submit,” how do you plan to spend your time? Rewatching all nine seasons of The Office on Netflix Perfecting your indoor hoops game Finishing that…
AAMC Traffic Rules: How to Use the Choose Your Medical School Tool
Sometimes the application season seems to stretch on forever. Especially at this time of year, as “hold” lists grow longer and waitlists stubbornly refuse to move, the wait can feel interminable. AMCAS’ new Choose Your Medical School Tool is designed to give this process a nudge. The idea is that as applicants confirm or release…
Med School Applications Kick Off: Ten Tips to Get You Through the Season
Medical school hopefuls are getting ready to work on those applications. This can be a hectic time as you try to stay on top of everything. Here are ten tips to help you hit the ground running: Get cozy with the AMCAS/AACOMAS. These two services – the American Medical Colleges Application Service (AMCAS) and the…
When Will Medical Schools Give You an Answer?
We are often asked: How long does a medical school have to invite an applicant to submit a secondary application? How long does a medical school have to respond and either invite the applicant to an interview, or say thanks, but no thanks? The fact is that there’s no rule governing how much time a…
M3 Journaling: How to Do it and How it Can Help Your Residency Application
What are you doing to prepare for the residency match? Chances are, you’re up to your eyeballs with rotations and exams and everything else that goes into finishing your medical degree. Chances are, you’re really not thinking much about your personal statement. Keep a journal…starting NOW Not to sound like a Bowflex commercial, but what…
Tips for Applicants With a Low MCAT Score
Medical school applicants (or any other professional school applicant) must assess their credentials realistically to present themselves in the best possible way during the application process. Since applicants are evaluated based on specific quantitative criteria (primarily undergraduate GPA and MCAT scores) and non-quantitative criteria (research and clinical exposure, leadership skills, mentoring experiences), as well as…
How to Improve and Present Your Experiences for Your Med School Reapplication
In the final section of our Medical School Reapplicant Advice: 6 Tips for Success series, we’ll discuss how reapplicants should improve, and then present, their experiences. One last factor that can seriously hurt your chances is a lack of substantive, ongoing experiences. Medical schools want students who are passionate and committed – to the world…
Improve Your MCAT Score for Medical School Acceptance
Fortunately, it’s easier to tackle a poor MCAT score than a poor GPA. While you should not retake the exam too many times, a better-prepared second or possibly third attempt can be a sound strategy. Many people find that studying independently or with a group of friends works well. Reviewing your old class notes and…
Boost Your GPA for Medical School Acceptance
In our last post, we talked about how to best present yourself in your secondaries and interviews. Today we’ll move forward and discuss ways to boost your GPA, another important feature of your med school application profile. Feeling a bit fragile after those intense last few blog posts? That’s to be expected – you’ve just…
Reapplying to Medical School: Secondaries, Interviews, School Selection & Application Timing
With the multi-staged admissions process, applicants can make an impact at each step – or be weeded out. Your assessment continues by looking at other ways you communicated with the admissions committee, and whether or not they helped you past the next hurdle. Secondaries Your secondary essays go beyond the initial introduction and flesh out your application….
Reapplying to Med School: Your Primary Application
The next part of your assessment will examine how you presented yourself to the admissions committees. (You can review part 1 of your assessment in our earlier post, Reapplying to Med School: Evaluating Your Medical School Profile.) Keep in mind that this part of your application is necessarily subjective – there are often no right…
Reapplying to Med School: Evaluating Your Medical School Profile
You knew there was a possibility that this would happen, but that doesn’t erase the sting. What can you do now? How can you move forward? What should you do if all you’ve received are rejections? To start with, know you’re not alone. Last year (2018-2019), only 40.9% of allopathic applicants made the cut. Osteopathic…
Med School Admissions: Challenges and Solutions for Older Applicants
“You’re going back to medical school? Why would you do that? Are you crazy?” Hopefully most people won’t react so strongly to your decision, but the question is probably still on their minds. And similar reservations are bound to pop into the heads of medical school admissions committee members reviewing your application. While the experiences…
Can You Submit Your AMCAS Application BEFORE Taking the MCAT?
It’s risky to apply to med school before taking or retaking the MCAT for a few reasons: 1. Applying to med school is expensive and time intensive. It’s hard to know where you might be a competitive applicant if you don’t know how your scores compare to other students at a school. Your practice scores…
6 Tips to Improve Your AMCAS Application Activities Section
It’s almost summer, and for me that means barbecues on the deck, specifically with the company of friends. I was recently enjoying a cook-out at one friend’s home in particular, and gracious as my hosts were, I felt a bit daunted by the huge piece of steak that filled my plate, accompanied by a small…
Early Decision for Medical School: Does It Make Sense For You?
Do you have a dream school, the one place where you’ve always wanted to study medicine, and no other place will do? Do you have a compelling reason for this one program, maybe a spouse whose job requires them to be in this location or your only living family member is in the area? Or…
